It was her husband who suggested they start making vadai to sell - James loved to eat, she said, and he especially liked that traditional Indian fried snack. James and Gina Rajan started out selling vadai door to door at first, and then in 1987 they opened their first stall in Geylang Bahru. Business was brisk, with vadai going for S$0.35 a piece or three for S$1. But when the area was redeveloped, they had to move to Simpang Bedok in 1999 - where nobody knew of them, and business was poor. It got so bad that James became depressed and suicidal. But a last-minute phone call from Makansutra food critic KF Seetoh saved this life - and their business. Seetoh wanted to do a write-up on their stall, and it was this as well as publicity in various newspapers that brought them a flood of customers and led to several Gina’s Vadai outlets. They were even featured on MediaCorp Channel 5’s Our Makan Places Lost and Found, with host Gurmit Singh. But in 2009, James died suddenly from a heart attack - leaving Gina with her promise to take care of the business they’d started together. It was a struggle without him. In 2017, Gina relocated to Dunman Food Centre. When COVID-19 struck, dine-in restrictions led to a 50%-60% drop in business. Gina is reluctant to get on food delivery platforms like GrabFood as it would mean having to mark up her prices - and S$1.80 for a vadai, she felt, was ridiculous. She hopes to one day pass the family business to her three children. But they know the only feasible way for it to continue, is to scale up and find ways to mass produce vadai. WATCH the full #OnTheRedDot episode Hawker Snacks: Why Are They More Affected By The Pandemic | On The Red Dot: https://youtu.be/lxdXlwSn65g ALSO WATCH: 74-Year-Old Fishball Mee Hawker Can't Bear To Retire After 50 Years Despite COVID-19 Pandemic https://youtu.be/SR2EWoBHcCc A Hokkien Ngoh Hiang Recipe Worth S$1 Million https://youtu.be/t1f2aICC9io Another Dine-In Ban: Hawkers Without Rental Waivers | On The Red Dot https://youtu.be/N82MwoCivso Hawkers In Maxwell Food Centre: Keeping The Legacy Alive | On The Red Dot https://youtu.be/sECsicYlYEE For more, SUBSCRIBE to CNA INSIDER! https://cna.asia/insideryoutubesub Follow CNA INSIDER on: Instagram: https://ift.tt/2C3sZiR Facebook: https://ift.tt/2PPEuNA Website: https://cna.asia/cnainsider
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